Forms of Cooperation of Lithuanian Forest Owners: A Case Review

Abstract

There are many ways for private forest owners (PFOs) to manage their properties. One way is to manage it by oneself, to use the individual approach; however, our focus is on a cooperative solution, which, in many cases, is much more challenging due to the incorporation of multiple players and the structure of their forests, not to mention the needs and objectives related to forest management. Cooperative forest management has different forms, as shown by numerous socio-economic theoretical and empirical findings. This paper discusses how the traditional organisational forms of cooperation among Lithuanian forest owners are operating and more specifically, how they are adopting their performance in addressing the goals of forest management. A case study is used to show how cooperation among private forest owners has been developing in Lithuania over recent years and finds some new forms of cooperational management.